Drum beater



Sept; 25, 1962 H. N. HAVILAND 3,055,254

DRUM BEATER Filed Feb. 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR HORACE HA V/LAIVD ATTORNEY? Sept. 25, 1962 H. N. HAVILAND 3,055,254

DRUM BEATER Filed Feb. 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 28 1\Wl|) NHWEQW iigil 3? a l l l im l l x l FIG. 4 62/ aaj 7 Hili ll INVENTOR HORACE N. HAl/IL AND BY ap/M ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,055,254 DRUM EEEATER Horace N. Haviiand, 1627 Perry St, Holland, Mich. Filed Feb. 25, 1959, $231. No. 10,899 11 tCiairns. (Cl. 84-422) This invention relates to musical instruments. More particularly, it relates to a drum beater useful for thumping bass drums and the like.

Foot pedal operated drum heaters are well-known, being commonly used in the percussion instrument section of dance bands and the like. Such an apparatus usually comprises a foot pedal, a drum stick holder in which is mounted a drum stick with a felt covered head or thumper at one end thereof and a mechanical structure for transmitting movement of the foot pedal to the drum stick holder whereby, upon depression of the foot pedal, the drum stick is pivoted and the thumper or head swung against the drum.

The efifectiveness of such an accessory depends upon the ease with which rhythmical movement of the drum stick is achieved, the variations in force with which the head of the drum stick can be made to strike the drum and the rapidity with which the drum stick can be returned to a desired starting position.

Many fine foot pedal operated drum beaters have been suggested and have actually been put into use. None, however, has reached the mark of perfection desired by professional musicians. Many of the foot pedal operated drum heaters heretofore in use and proposed have a complicated structure and in many instances precision made parts. Many are sluggish and lag in action. Some of the prior art drum beaters have return spring structures for returning the head to an initial position. There is therefore, a need for improvement in the foot pedal operated drum heaters currently in use and heretofore proposed.

A general object of this invention is to provide an improved, foot pedal operated, drum beater.

A special object of this invention is to provide an improved, foot pedal operated, drum beater having faster, more responsive and controllable action.

Another specific object of this invention is to provide a foot pedal operated, drum beater having a simplified structure involving no precision parts.

These and other objects which may appear as this specification proceeds are achieved by this invention which shall be described in the context of the drawings which form a material part of the disclosure. A brief description of the drawings follows.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the foot pedal operated drum beater of this invention, which view shows in phantom the position of various parts of the drum beater upon depression of the foot pedal.

FIG. 2 is a front end view of the drum beater of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of a portion of the drum beater of FIG. 1, which view has been taken as indicated by the sectional plane 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is another enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of another portion of the drum beater of FIG. 1, which view has been taken as indicated by the sectioning plane 4-4 of FIG. 2.

In general, the drawings illustrate an improved, foot pedal operated, drum beater based on the concept of the drum stick holder means being mounted on leaf spring means which form the sole support of the drum stick holder means. In this broad concept, motion of the foot pedal is transmitted to the drum stick holder means by Patented Sept. 25, 1962 way of flexible link means. A more specific concept illustrated in the drawings is that of means for adjusting the arc of ilexure of the leaf spring means in the direction of the drum in accordance with the individual requirements and desires of the person using the drum beater.

Other concepts will be apparent in the description of a preferred embodiment of the drum beater of this invention.

Specifically, the drawings disclose a foot pedal oper-ated, drum beater 10. As shown, this instrument comprises a pedestal structure 11, a foot pedal assembly 12, a drum stick holder assembly 13 a pair of leaf spring assemblies 14, and a pull cord 15. The drum stick holder assembly 13 is shown provided with a drum stick 16 on the upper end of which is a felt covered head or thumper 17.

The pedestal structure 11 comprises a base portion 20 which includes a pair of forwardly extending legs 21 and 22 and a pair of posts or columns 23 and 24. The legs 21 and 22 are spaced from one another and extend forwardly from the posts 23 and 24 to provide lateral as well as longitudinal stability to the pedestal structure 11. The posts 23 and 24 are likewise spaced from one another with the result that in front View (FIG. 2) the edestal structure 11 resembles an inverted U-shaped structure. Between the posts 23 and 24 the base portion 20 is provided with a normally horizontally disposed, backwardly facing and longitudinally aligned socket 25 (FIG. 4) for receiving a corresponding connecting rod 37 of the foot pedal assembly 12. Between the legs 21 and 22 and the posts 23 and 24, there is provided a movable clamp member 26.

The clamp member 26 is a normally horizontally dis posed block longitudinally aligned with the drum beater it Adjacent the back end 77 thereof, there is provided a winged head bolt 27 threadedly engaged with a normally vertically disposed bore '78 through the clamp member 26 and threadably engaged with a normally vertically aligned bore extending through the base portion 20 into the socket 25. The front end of the clamp member 26 is in the form of a downwardly extending flange 28. Backwardly of the flange 23, the clamp member is provided with a transverse recess 29 on the top side 79 thereof. Movably positioned within the recess is a round retention bar 39. The retention bar 30 is in threaded engagement with the ends of a pair of flat head bolts 31 (FIG. 4) and 32 (FIG. 1) extending upwardly from the bottom of the base poriton 20 through suitable bores 33, and through oversized bores 34 in the clamp member 26. The flange 28 in combination with the legs 21 and 22 provides clamping means for clamping the pedestal structure 11 of the drum beater 10 to the rim of the drum with which the drum beater 10 is to be used. In this regard, it is preferred that the top sides of the legs 21 and 22 correspond to the outside periphery of the drum in the region thereof to which the drum beater will be clamped. In general, this condition is obtained by forming the top sides of the legs 21 and 22 with a downwardly curved portion toward the longitudinal center line of the drum beater 10.

Spiral type compression springs 8 and 9 encircle the bolts 31 and 32 respectively and coact against the base 10 and clamp member 26 to maintain the clamp in the open position when it is not clamped to the drum rim.

The foot pedal assembly 12 comprises a foot pedal 35, a mounting base 36 and a connecting rod 37. The back end of the foot pedal 35 is pivotally connected to the mounting base 36 which normally rests on the floor along with the pedestal structure 11. The connecting rod 37, with the back end thereof secured to the mounting base 36, extends forwardly along the longitudinal center line of the drum beater 1d and into the socket 25 of the base portion 2ft. To hold the front end of the connect ing rod 37 in place in the base portion 26, the winged head bolt 27 is manually turned down until the end thereof tightly engages the connecting rod 37. In so doing, the back end of the clamp member 26, because of the threaded engagement thereof with the winged head bolt 27, is caused to move upwardly. Because of the pivotal mounting afforded by the retention bar 3@ and bolts 31 and 32, the front end of the clamp member 26 is compelled downwardly whereby the flange 23 is caused to clamp the rim of the drum against the top side of the legs 21 and 22.

The front end of the foot pedal 35 is provided with a clamping means for attaching the ends of the pull cord 15 thereto. Such means comprise a pair of longitudinally aligned recesses 39 and 4-3 on the bottom side of the foot pedal 35 and extending to the front end thereof, and a transverse, intersecting recess on the bottom side of the foot pedal Disposed in the transverse recess is a cylindrical cord clamp bar which is providcd with a flat headed clamping bolt 42 in threaded engagement with a corresponding bore in a suitable embossment (not shown) on the bottom side of the foot pedal 35.

The drum stick holder assembly 13 comprises a drum stick holder 45 and a Winged head bolt 46. The drum stick holder is somewhat T-shaped, having lateral arm portions 47 and 43 and a leg l9. The arm portions 47 and 48 of the 'T-shaped holder d are transversely disposed to the centerline of the drum beater and are secured to the leaf spring assemblies 14. The leg portion 49 of the T-shaped holder extends forwardly along the longitudinal centerline of the drum beater it). At the front end of the leg portion 49 there is provided an arbor portion Sti having an opening 51 therethrough for the drum stick 16. The arbor portion 56 is also provided with a pair of laterally disposed cars 52 and 5'3. Trans'versely disposed through an car 52 to the hole 51 is a bore in which is placed in threaded engagement the winged head bolt 46. The bolt 46 functions to hold the drum stack 16 in place in the hole 51 of the arbor portion 5%. The ear members 52 and 53 are provided for engagement with the pull cord in the manner to be described later.

The drum stick holder arm portions 67 and '48 are secured at their outer ends, 47a and 48a respectively to the normally upper ends of the leaf spring assemblies 14, the normally lower ends of which are secured to the posts 23 and 24. Each member of spring assembly 14, as shown in FIG. 3, comprises a full length, main spring member 56 with a pair of front, partial full length, reinforcing spring members 57 and 58 and a pair of rear, partial full length, reinforcing spring members 59 and 60. The outer front reinforcing spring member 57 has a shorter length than the inner front reinforcing spring member 58. On the other hand, the outer, rear reinforcing spring member 59 has a longer length than the inner rear reinforcing spring member 60. The bottom ends of the fnont reinforcing spring members 57 and 58 terminate in the same plane as the bottom end of the main spring member 56. Similarly, the top ends of the rear reinforcing spring members 5'9 and 6t terminate in substantially the same plane as the top end of the main spring member 56. Adjacent the outer, rear reinforcing spring member 59 in each leaf spring assembly 14 is a rigid backing plate 61 which extends upwardly from the bottom end of the main spring member 56 to about the midway point of the inner rear reinforcing spring member 60. The backing plate 61 has transversely projecting flanges which extend along approximately the upper one-third of the backing plate. The bottom edges of the flanges rest upon the vertical extension 70.

On the front side of the outer, front reinforcing spring member 57 there is provided a vertically slideable adjustment plate 62 having an elongated slot 63 for accommodating the shaft of a retention bolt 64. At the normally upper end of the adjustment plate 62 there is provided a spring member bearing surface formed by a transversely disposed, horizontally arranged roller 64. Adjustment of the plate 62 provides for regulating the are or degree of fiexure of the spring assemblies 14. This is a result of changing the position of roller 65 which is carried by slideable adjustment plate 62. The roller 65 acts as a fulcrum about which the spring members flex. The adjustment plate is moved downwardly to increase the degree of flexure and in the reverse direction to decrease flexure. Elements 61 and 62 are shown diagrammatically in MG. 1.

The leaf spring assemblies 14- are fastened to the arms 47 and 43 of the drum stick holder assembly 13 in the following manner. It will be observed in lFIG. 3 that the arms 47 and 48 comprise partial lateral extensions 66. In side view, each lateral extension 66 appears semi-circular With the fiat sides thereof facing frontwardly. The normally upper end of each leaf spring assembly 1d is positioned adjacent the front side of the lateral extension 66. On the front side of the upper end of each leaf spring assembly 14 there is provided a corresponding clamp block 67.

The clamp block 67 in side view is semi-circular in shape with the flat side thereof vertically disposed and facing rearwardly toward the corresponding flat side of the lateral extension 66. It will be observed that the bottom inner end of each clamp block 67 is rounded off. The purpose of this is to minimize sharp bending under operation of the leaf spring assembly members fastened to the arms 47 and 48. This lessens the chance of leaf spring fatigue failure.

By means of a bolt fastener 68 disposed through a suitable bore in the lateral extension 66 and openings through the normally upper ends of the spring members 56, 59 and 66 and in threaded engagement with the clamp block 67, the leaf spring assemblies 14 are secured to the drum stick holder assembly 13.

The leaf spring assemblies 14 are secured to the pedestal structure 11 in the following manner. As shown in FIG. 3 each post .23 and 24 is provided with an upwardly extending rear portion 70. The bottom ends of the main spring member 56 and the front reinforcing spring members 57 and 56 in addition to the backing plate 61 are seated on the end of each post 23 and 24 adjacent the vertical extension 70. On the front side of the leaf spring assembly 14 in each case there is provided a clamp block 71. On the front side of the clamp block 71 there is mounted the adjustment plate 62. A flat head retention bolt 64 is longitudinally disposed through a suitable opening through the rear portion 70, the bottom bearing leaf springs, the clamp block 71, the slot 63 of the adjustment plate 62 and then into threaded engagement with a knurled hand nut 72.

The pull cord 15 is of such length that upon installation the front end of the foot pedal 35 is at a sufficient height such that upon depression of the same, the head 17 of the drum stick 16 is in drum striking position. As a preferred material of construction, nylon is suggested for the pull cord 15. To install the pull cord 15 in the foot pedal 35 it is formed into a loop and the free ends placed in the cord recesses 39 and 40 underneath the cord clamp bar 41 and the clamp bolt 4-2 tightened down.

Normally, the drum beater 10 will be furnished to the user thereof and stored in knock-down condition. In such condition, the combination of the pedestal structure assembly 11, the drum stick holder assembly 13 and leaf spring assemblies 14 will be one structural unit, the foot pedal assembly 12 in combination with the pull cord 15 will be another structural unit and the drum stick 16 will be another structural unit.

To assemble the drum beater 10 from these structural units, the pedestal structure 11 in combination with the drum stick holder assembly 13 and the leaf spring assembly 14 is placed into position relative to the drum with which the drum beater is to be used. In such a position, the rim of a conventional drum (not shown) will be seated on top of the legs 21 and 22 of the pedestal assembly 11 and underneath the flange 28 of the clamp member 26 thereof.

Next, the feet pedal assembly 12 is placed into position by inserting the connecting rod 37 into the socket 25. The winged head bolt 27 is then turned down until the connecting rod 37 is tightly secured to the pedestal assembly 11. At this point, the flange 28 of the clamp member 26 should be tightly engaging the top of a drum rim (not shown) thereat. If not, the flat head bolts 31 and 32 are turned until the drum rim becomes tightly seated. Further adjustment of the flat head bolts 31 and 32 will not be necessary insofar as this particular drum rim is concerned.

The looped end of the pull cord is then placed on the underside of the leg portion 49 of the drum stick holder 45, particularly adjacent to the arbor portion 50 and on each side of the arbor portion 50 the pull cord 15 is draped over the cars 52 and 53. The weight of the front end of the foot pedal 35 will suflice to keep the pull cord 15 in taut condition about the ears 52 and 53. The drum stick 16 of the drum beater 10 is greatly improved over the prior art drum beaters. The foot A edal may be depressed to a point whereat the head 17 of the drum stick may be quickly and rapidly moved as in a drum roll and the user will experience little or no fatigue in so doing this. The reason is that the tension of the leaf springs as the foot pedal 35 is depressed increases only slightly.

Because of the leaf spring assembly structure, when the drum stick holder assembly 13 is swung forwardly by the pull cord 15, the leaf spring assemblies 14 approach a true arc. This enhances the action of the drum beater it and leads to long service life of the leaf spring assemblies 14.

When pressure on the foot pedal 35 is released, the leaf spring assemblies 14 automatically and immediately return the drum stick holder assembly 13 to its initial position established by the foot pedal 35 either With or without, as the case may be, residual pressure from the users foot.

Thus, there is presented a drum beater 10 of simplified construction and easy operation. The number of component parts are at a minimum. In this regard, it will be observed that there is no conventional return spring involved, such as required in many of the drum beaters heretofore proposed. The action of the drum beater 10 is free and more sensitive regardless of the musical beat invoived. Lag time is insignificant. In addition the force of each drum beat is more easily controlled.

These and other advantages will be apparent to those in the exercise of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains.

Moreover, other embodiments of this invention will be apparent upon reading the foregoing description. Hence, the embodiment just described is to be regarded as illustrative and not restrictive since the scope of the invention is defined by the claims and all embodiments which fall within the metes and bounds of the claims are intended to be embraced thereby unless the claims by their language expressly state otherwise.

I claim:

1. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means; rockable foot pedal means; movable drum stick holder means; link means secured to said drum stick holder means and to said foot pedal means for transmitting motion of said foot pedal means to said drum stick holder means; and leaf spring means secured to said drum stick holder means and to said pedestal means and forming the sole means of support for said drum stick holder means.

2. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means; rockable foot pedal means; movable drum stick holder means; flexible link means secured to said drum stick holder means and to said foot pedal means for transmitting motion of said foot pedal means to said drum stick holder means; and leaf spring means secured to said drum stick holder means and to said pedestal means, said leaf spring means forming the sole means of support for said drum stick holder means.

3. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means; rockable foot pedal means; movable drum stick holder means comprising normally horizontally and transversely disposed, laterally extending, arm means; flexible link means draped about said drum stick holder means and to said foot pedal means for transmitting motion of said foot pedal means to said drum stick holder means; .and leaf spring means secured to the outer end of each of said arm means and to said pedestal means, said leaf spring means forming the sole support for said drum stick holder means and flexing with said rockable drum stick holder means upon rocking of said foot pedal means.

4. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means having a pair of upright post means; foot pedal means disposed between said post means; movable drum stick holder means comprising normally horizontally and transversely disposed, laterally extending arm means; flexible link means secured to said drum stick holder means and to said foot pedal means for transmitting motion of said foot pedal means to said drum ick holder means; and leaf spring means secured to the outer end of each of said arm means and secured to said upright post means, said leaf spring means forming the sole means of support for said drum stick holder means.

5. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means having a pair of upright post means spaced apart from one another; foot pedal means comprising a foot pedal disposed between said post means, foot pedal mounting means disposed rearwardly of said pedestal means, connecting rod means joined to said mounting means and to said pedestal means, the back end of said foot pedal being pivotally mounted to said foot pedal mounting means; movable drum stick holder means comprising normally horizontally and transversely disposed, laterally extending, arm means, flexible link means secured to said drum stick holder means and to the front end of said foot pedal means for transmitting motion from said foot pedal means to said movable drum stick holder means; and vertically disposed leaf spring means between each of said arm means and corresponding upright posts, the top end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the outer ends of said arm means, the bottom end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the upper ends of said post means, said leaf spring means forming the sole means of support for said drum stick holder means; rigid backing plate means adjacent the back side of each of said leaf spring means and extending upwardly from the bottom ends thereof to an intermediate height therealong; means securing said leaf spring means to said arms; and means securing said leaf spring means and backing plate means to said post means.

6. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means having a pair of upright post means spaced apart from one another; foot pedal means comprising a foot pedal disposed between said post means, foot pedal mounting means disposed rearwardly of said pedestal means, connecting rod means joined to said mounting means and to said pedestal means, the back end of said foot pedal being pivotally mounted to said foot pedal mounting means; movable drum stick holder means comprising normally horizontally and transversely disposed, laterally extending, arm means, flexible link means secured to said drum stick holder means and to the front end of said foot pedal means for transmitting motion from said foot pedal means to said movable drum stick holder means; and vertically disposed leaf spring means between each of said arm means and corresponding upright posts, the top end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the outer ends of said arm means, the bottom end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the upper ends of said post means, said leaf spring means forming the sole means of support for said drum stick holder means; rigid backing plate means adjacent the back side of each of said leaf spring means and extending upwardly from the bottom ends thereof to an intermediate height therealong; means securing said leaf spring means to said arms; means securing said leaf spring means and backing plate means to said post means; and means for regulating the arc of flexure of said leaf spring means in the direction of movement of said drum stick holder means when said flexible link means is pulled downwardly by said foot pedal means.

7. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means having a pair of upright post means spaced apart from one another; foot pedal means comprising a foot pedal disposed between said post means, foot pedal mounting means disposed rearwardly of said pedestal means, connecting rod means joined to said mounting means and to said pedestal means, the back end of said foot pedal being pivotally mounted to said foot pedal mounting means; movable drum stick holder means comprising normally horizontally and transversely disposed, laterally extending, arm means, flexible link means secured to said drum stick holder means and to the front end of said foot pedal means for transmitting motion from said foot pedal means to said movable drum stick holder means; and vertically disposed leaf spring means between each of said arm means and corresponding upright posts, the top end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the outer ends of said arm means, the bottom end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the upper ends of said post means, said leaf spring means forming the sole means of support for said drum stick holder means; rigid backing plate means adjacent the back side of each of said leaf spring means and extending upwardly from the bottom ends thereof to an intermediate height therealong; means securing said leaf spring means to said arms; means securing said leaf spring means and backing plate means to said post means; and means for regulating the arc of flexure of said leaf spring means in the direction of movement of said drum stick holder means when said flexible link means is pulled downwardly by said foot pedal means, said means comprising a vertically movable, rigid member mounted on the end of each of said upright columns, said member at the normally top end thereof comprising a curved surface adjacent said leaf spring means on the front side thereof.

8. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means having a pair of upright post means spaced apart from one another; foot pedal means comprising a foot pedal disposed between said post means, foot pedal mounting means disposed rearwardly of said pedestal means, connecting rod means joined to said mounting means and to said pedestal means, the back end of said foot pedal being pivotally mounted to said foot pedal mounting means; movable drum stick holder means comprising normally horizontally and transversely disposed, laterally extending, arm means, flexible link means secured to said drum stick holder means and to the front end of said foot pedal means for transmitting motion from said foot pedal means to said movable drum stick holder means; and vertically disposed leaf spring means between each of said arm means and corresponding upright posts, the top end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the outer ends of said arm means, the bottom end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the upper ends of said post means, each of said leaf spring means comprising a full length main spring member and a plurality of reinforcing spring members in staggered, partial lengths arranged in laminar fashion, said leaf spring means forming the sole means of support for said drum stick holder means; rigid backing plate means adjacent the back side of each of said leaf spring means and extending upwardly from the bottom ends thereof to an intermediate height therealong; means securing said leaf spring means to said arms; means securing said leaf spring means and backing plate means to said post means, and means for regulating the arc of flexure of said leaf spring means in the direction of movement of said drum stick holder means when said flexible link means is pulled downwardly by said foot pedal means, said means comprising a vertically movable, rigid member mounted on the end of each of said upright columns, said member at the normally top end thereof comprising a curved surface adjacent said leaf spring means on the front side thereof.

9. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means having a pair of upright post means spaced apart from one another having clamp means for clamping said pedestal means to the rim of a drum; foot pedal means comprising a foot pedal disposed between said post means, foot pedal mounting means disposed rearwardly of said pedestal means, connecting rod means joined to said mounting means and to said pedestal means, the back end of said foot pedal being pivotally mounted to said foot pedal mounting means; movable drum stick holder means comprising normally horizontally and transversely disposed, laterally extending, arm means, flexible link means secured to said drum stick holder means and to the front end of said foot pedal means for transmitting motion from said foot pedal means to said movable drum stick holder means; and vertically disposed leaf spring means between each of said arm means and corresponding upright posts, the top end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the outer ends of said arm means, the bottom end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the upper ends of said post means, said leaf spring means forming the sole means of support for said drum stick holder means; rigid backing plate means adjacent the back side of each of said leaf spring means and extending upwardly from the bottom ends thereof to an intermediate height therealong; means securing said leaf spring means to said arms; and means securing said leaf spring means and backing plate means to said post means.

10. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means having a pair of upright post means spaced apart from one another having clamp means adapted to clamp said pedestal means to the rim of a drum, said clamp means including a pair of forwardly extending legs, the top surfaces of which conform to the outside curvature of a drum, a clamp block disposed between said post means and pivotally mounted on said pedestal means intermediate the ends thereof and threaded hand fastener means adjacent the back end thereof in threaded engagement with said clamp block and said pedestal means; foot pedal means comprising a foot pedal disposed between said post means, foot pedal mounting means disposed rearwardly of said pedestal means, connecting rod means joined to said mounting means and to said pedestal means, the back end of said foot pedal being pivotally mounted to said foot pedal mounting means; movable drum stick holder means comprising normally horizontally and transversely disposed, laterally extending, arm means, flexible link means secured to said drum stick holder means and to the front end of said foot pedal means for transmitting motion from said foot pedal means to said rockable drum stick holder means; and vertically disposed leaf spring means between each of said arm means and corresponding upright posts, the top end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the outer ends of said arm means, the bottom end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the upper ends of said post means, said leaf spring means forming the sole means of support for said drum stick holder means; rigid backing plate means adjacent the back side of each of said leaf spring means and extending upwardly from the bottom ends thereof to an intermediate height therealong; means securing said leaf spring means to said arms; and means securing said leaf spring means and backing plate means to said post means.

11. A foot pedal operated drum beater comprising: pedestal means having a pair of upright post means spaced apart from one another; foot pedal means comprising a foot pedal disposed between said post means, foot pedal mounting means disposed rearwardly of said pedestal means, connecting rod means joined to said mounting means and to said pedestal means, the back end of said foot pedal being pivotally mounted to said foot pedal mounting means; movable drum stick holder means comprising an arbor portion having a pair of lateral ears, hand fastener means through one of said cars, a longitudinally aligned leg portion and normally horizontally and transversely disposed, laterally extending, arm means joined to said leg portion, flexible link means looped under said. leg portion and draped over said ears of said drum stick holder means and secured to the front end of said foot pedal means for transmitting motion from said foot pedal means to said rockable drum stick holder means; and vertically disposed leaf spring means between each of said arm means and corresponding upright posts, the top end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the outer ends of said arm means, the bottom end of each of said leaf spring means being disposed at the upper ends of said post means, said leaf spring means forming the sole means of support for said drum stick holder means; rigid backing plate means adjacent the back side of each of said leaf spring means and extending upwardly from the bottom ends thereof to an intermediate height therealong; means securing said leaf spring means to said arms; and means securing said leaf spring means and backing plate means to said post means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 846,391 Bower Mar. 5, 1907 2,132,211 Hueckstead Oct. 4, 1938 2,540,051 Ludwig Jan. 30, 1951 2,551,635 Ramsey May 8, 1951 2,784,635 Troppe Mar. 12, 1957 

